GS Paper 3 10 marks · 150w 9 min Medium

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is viewed as a cardinal subset of China’s larger ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative. Give a brief description of CPEC and enumerate the reasons why India has distanced itself from the same.

Subtopic: Internal Security · India's Strategic Neighbourhood

Model answer outline

How to structure your answer

Introduction (CPEC as flagship of BRI) → brief description of its route, components and scale → India's objections: sovereignty, strategic encirclement, debt and transparency → Conclusion on India's calibrated response.

Full model answer

Written within the word limit

150 words · target 150 words · 9 min

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), launched in 2015, is the flagship project of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It is a network of infrastructure, energy and connectivity projects, originally valued at around USD 46 billion and since expanded.

Brief description

It links Kashgar in China's Xinjiang region to the deep-sea port of Gwadar in Balochistan on the Arabian Sea.
Components include highways and railways, Special Economic Zones, and power plants addressing Pakistan's energy shortfall.
Gwadar port gives China a shorter route to West Asian energy sources, bypassing the Malacca Strait.

Why India has distanced itself

Sovereignty: CPEC passes through Gilgit-Baltistan, part of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir that India claims, violating its territorial integrity.
Strategic encirclement: Gwadar strengthens China's 'String of Pearls' presence in the Indian Ocean.
Opaque, debt-heavy financing and lack of consultation. India therefore boycotted the 2017 Belt and Road Forum.

India instead promotes alternatives like the Chabahar port and the International North-South Transport Corridor.

Key points

What an examiner expects to see

CPEC (2015) is the flagship of China's Belt and Road Initiative, linking Kashgar (Xinjiang) to Gwadar port (Balochistan).
Comprises highways, railways, energy projects and SEZs; initially ~USD 46 billion, subsequently enlarged.
Gwadar gives China an Arabian Sea outlet, shortening access to West Asian energy and bypassing the Malacca chokepoint.
Sovereignty objection: route through Gilgit-Baltistan/PoK violates India's territorial integrity.
Strategic concern: reinforces China's 'String of Pearls' encirclement of India in the Indian Ocean.
Opaque financing and debt-trap risk; India boycotted the 2017 Belt and Road Forum in protest.
India's counter: Chabahar port and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).

Examples to use

Concrete cases, schemes and judgments

India's boycott of the Belt and Road Forum, Beijing, 2017.
Gwadar deep-sea port operated by a Chinese state firm.
Chabahar port in Iran developed by India as an alternative connectivity route.
Sri Lanka's Hambantota port lease as a cited example of BRI debt exposure.

Keywords / terms

Terminology to weave into the answer

CPECBelt and Road InitiativeGilgit-Baltistan sovereigntyString of PearlsGwadar portChabahar